Green Bay, WI Garage & Yard Sales: Frequency, Duration & Permits (2026)

Section 44-469 of the Green Bay Municipal Code lists rummage sales among the temporary uses and structures permitted in every zoning district, but only if the seller first obtains a temporary use permit showing the sale complies with the zoning district's regulations and every other applicable rule in Chapter 44. The rummage sale entry itself, § 44-469(1), sets the numeric cap: no more than four rummage sale events per calendar year at any single residential location, and those events together cannot add up to more than 16 days of operation that year. The section does not distinguish a single-family home from a duplex; the four-event, 16-day ceiling attaches to the address, not to the household or the number of residents holding the sale.

The same section regulates other short-term uses a resident might confuse with a rummage sale: construction storage is capped at one year, temporary amusement events (including tents) at 15 days per year, and promotional outdoor sales and display in nonresidential districts at 30 days per year. A catch-all in § 44-469(8) lets the Planning Department authorize other temporary uses not listed, for up to 90 days with one possible 90-day extension, but rummage sales stay governed by the specific four-event/16-day rule in (1), not this general clause.

Chapter 44 enforces its permitted-use limits through §§ 44-197 and 44-198: the Zoning Administrator, Plan Commission, Common Council, or a specifically damaged neighboring property owner can bring an action to enjoin a violation or force removal of a nonconforming use, and any person who violates a Chapter 44 provision is subject to the penalty set in § 1-6.